FORMER Gov. Mario Cuomo, one of the nation’s best-known orators, says John Kerry must start using some plain talk in order to get his presidential campaign back on track.

Cuomo, who almost ran for president in 1992, told The Post that fellow Democrat Kerry has got to “stop talking in sentences with three commas in them.”

“He’s very smart, he’s intelligent, he’s good with words – it’s just that he’s good with words in the Senate and that’s different than talking to a TV camera or talking to groups,” Cuomo continued.

Cuomo said that Kerry’s sometimes convoluted speaking style has made it difficult for voters to understand his positions.

“It’s going to come down in the end to how well Kerry can get his message out on the war against terrorism and on his domestic programs, and he has to tie the two of them together.

“The question is: ‘Can he do it every day without using sentences with three commas in them?’ “

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Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) will be on the hot seat tomorrow – placed under oath before the state Lobbying Commission to publicly answer questions about what may have been a sweetheart deal at a Las Vegas casino.

The commission issued a subpoena to Silver after Caesars Entertainment, owner of the Paris Las Vegas Hotel, refused to explain the circumstances under which Silver was able to stay in a $1,500-a-night suite for $109 in early 2002, at the same time he was meeting with a Caesars lobbyist.